Paulson Keeps Big Gold Bet, Cuts Back Gold Fields

By Brendan Conway

Hedge-fund manager John Paulson kept his stake in the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) last quarter but pared back a bet on Gold Fields (GFI), a filing this morning shows.

Paulson & Co.’s stake in the South African gold miner’s American depositary receipts shrunk to 6.5 million as of Sept. 30, down from 18 million at the end of the second quarter. His holdings of the SPDR Gold Trust held steady at 21.8 million shares.

At today’s price, Paulson’s GLD hoard is worth about $3.6 billion, or nearly 5% of the ETF’s outstanding shares. He’s the biggest single holder of the fund, FactSet Research Systems data show.

It goes without saying that Paulson today may or may not hold what appears in a Sept. 30 disclosure.

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Chris Dieterich has covered the U.S. stock market for The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires. He is a graduate of Regis University and the Missouri School of Journalism.